Sunday, April 26, 2009

The gallery The Creamery, located in the town of Platte, SD is closing.

I have been a part of this gallery since its conception and worked with the owners, in store, for the last 4 years.

Sadly the current state of economic affairs is placing a strain on the amount of traffic through our little town.

We hugely, depend upon tourist.

The owners Marc and Dianne are met with the daunting decision to close the establishment and hopefully give another entrepreneur the chance to make something of the building.

This decision made, we are opening for a few weeks to allow for last minute sales and vendors clean out.

I made a little parting gift that I hope Marc and Dianne will fondly remember me.

A continuation of the building series can include the buildings that Marc and Dianne restored for our town.

The Creamery and sitting directly across the street is the Theater.

Marc totally gutted the building then restored her back to period, all its interior.

She boast a live stage where performances still take place and a theater screen for movies.

He updated to sound.

The Lyric Theater..original to our town and now still enjoying performances from traveling artists and current movie projections.

I need to work on my paintings not all looking the same...that said...the one picture shows the pictures I took of the street view angle i wanted to paint. Then a close snap of the view I gave the buildings in the painting...I was going for a vintage look of a snapshot taken looking down main street...then the painting as a whole.

Except that all my paintings kind of look the same...I hope you do enjoy the outcome of the piece. And I hope Marc and Dianne won't just place it in the closet.

I will miss the gallery...it was an interesting place to work, shop and meet other artist.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Milliande has a prompt for the Lighthouse, on her Ning, what it might symbolize, or mean.

I chose the Hatteras Light in Hatteras NC,USA.

Her life parallels to mine. She stood strong with her daily life struggles for over a hundred years. Helping to guide survivors and stave off ships to close the shoals. Then, due to external environmental conditions, they moved her inland.

Me too.

I moved inland to the Midwest. Escaping the external hazards of the horrendous crime and exorbitant VA common law tax.

Where my spirit is freer to roam without the crowds of neighbors (my closest neighbor is 2 miles in either direction!) A bit (but not by much) more reasonable tax structure, but they are trying to mimic their cousin states had as they can.

Some changes took awhile to adjust to...but on the whole the move was good.

Hatteras Light, no longer in operation, in order to remain intact needed to be moved...she endured the change and can remain a beacon of strength for admirers, who deem to research her history and legacy years to come.

Close up of the patina added to the solder lines. Patina is a acid that cleans the lead, but also allows a chemical reaction color the lead. I chose a traditional black for the church panel lines. Then the panel is polished, both sides.

Let us refresh ourselves from whence this panel started...a pile of parts.

To the finished window.

Done panel one. I shall begin pulling pieces from the pile and begin panel two of this restoration project. I won't post panel twos transition it is the same as this one...exactly. Have any questions just ask.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Week 4 into Sarah Whitmire's advanced journal techniques...she is a fabulous inspiration and she will be offering another class soon. If possible... I recommend her. http://sarahwhitmire.blogspot.com/

Okay construct pockets to place our tags...I didn't have any of the recommended paper...a paper bag, so I used an envelope...worked fine. Tape it into the journal, I used copper tape...write some words in the tape..one side to represent negative/fear the other side positive/love. Did that, then swipe some black paint over the negative side and white on the positive and stamp background in same paint...did it. I am a simple person so I stayed fairly basic.

Here are both sides open.

Negative/fear.

Use stamps to create the background I chose spiderweb..because it represents the dark side to me...I don't fear the web ..but I do a spider!

I am probably older than most of the participants and certainly so as far as Sarah is concerned.

My fears stem to the healthy side of life. I do very much respect the body. It carries us through so much and still keeps going but, even under the best intentions serving up the most healthy choices in food and exercise...I do fear the imminent will still be a wheelchair.

Here is my positive side.

Where I have prepared for and enjoyed every moment of the 29 years I have spent truly.. with my soul mate, my other half...a very special, considerate encouraging man, whom without these years would have been such the missed adventure.

We looked for images to put on the cards...wrote and stamped on them and embellished them somewhat.

On the one card you will see a lady at a table..she is writing...preparing...the lessons I plan to offer this summer at the gallery. Enthusiastic about the venture.

Content is a lot of areas...holding the babies, enjoying a snuggle, standing by the ocean breathing in the salty air. Enjoying the family supper with the arguments about who is doing the dishes. At my studio table. At the end of my shift when all the counters are wiped and dishes put away.

The three boy's... the tall figure is Steven, 15..the younger brother is Tristan 10...then the youngest Charlie is 2...Charlie is rarely this clean...he is a big eater and generally a mess from his active pursuit of food.

A close up of Steven and Charlie...yeah Steven needs a haircut...he 'thinks' he is letting it grow. He has learned to play his guitar ...and is actually very good at it, but I think he harbors that he is a rock star...hence needs the long haired image...?

Their mom Jen...a rare picture she usually runs from the camera!

The background shows where JR is remodeling the kitchen...rock will go on that prepared wall behind the cabinets, you might can barely see the counter...he made it from cement that he then polished...turned out awesome! When he finishes I will tour you through the makeover.

Friday, April 10, 2009

Happy Easter! Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend spent in the joy of their family, appreciating ...well just appreciating.

A little while back, I joined a charm swap with http://greenwomandesign.blogspot.com/Mary.6 charms or was it 5?No matter I made 6. They are due sometime like now. Today was their day for creation.

The card at the right or below, however it might turn up when I post, began as an index card. I hope you can see the dragonfly detail. It is done with a stencil, and the thicker gesso so it is raised. I cut this up into 6 pieces to put my information on to go with the charm. I began with some vintage postage stamps. When digging through the pile I was looking for animal images, or something pretty, not postaged over.

These are the six images i used, affixed to the back of the glass blob with glue that dries clear.

I took flat sheet copper and placed that on the back of the glass and a piece of strip foil, burnished it and then added solder to cover it all up and so I could affix a loop, that I made from copper wire. Cleaned it all up from the soldering process then patinaed in a bronze...it has a lot of coloration and will mix with nearly any kind of metal, so hopefully will work well on the recipients bracelet.

Finished front and back of the charm...a bit blurry, but I think you should see fine what I ended up with.

I hope I am on time, or this side of close, and that who receives the charm is happy with the result.

Sunday, April 5, 2009

We ended up having quite a few pages with this particular exercise. I didn't complete but 2 pictures altered, so these are all I show. Even though my pages are falling apart, I learned what they were supposed to become. I will definitely have a better idea of where to cut my frames. Tape goes on before coloring the pages, it sticks better. My pages aren't nearly as pretty as Sarah Whitmire's. This post takes up 2 post areas.

Even though the pictures may not show the details, we used gesso for achieving some stenciled places, which allows for raised elements. I learned that regular gesso only is best for this process. Hard sandable gesso, (a Golden product) proves to thin. The raised areas a cool feature. A bit of a learning curve for deciding the best way to bring them into better focus.

I learned a lot from the exercise.

As you continue into the next segment the very bottom picture is for week three's assignment. We will be distressing tags. I didn't have any tags and no place to go get any so, I made some from a file folder.

It isn't a very exciting picture but, side 1 is soldered. I will next put a frame on the panel which will be part zinc...up to the curve then pulled lead. I have plenty of reinforcement within the design, so I shouldn't have a problem when I flip it. I will get help from my husband Craig to do the flipping. Then solder side 2.

You are more than a little eccentric, and you're apt to keep very unusual habits.
Whether you're a night owl, living in a commune, or taking a vow of silence - you like to experiment with your lifestyle.
Expressing your individuality is important to you, and you often lie awake in bed thinking about the world and your place in it.
You enjoy staying home, but that doesn't mean you're a hermit. You also appreciate quality time with family and close friends.